Sunday, December 7, 2008

Malaysia Airlines Pursues Strategic Partnerships With Other Carriers

Opinion: MAS being a national carrier, is still partially influenced by the government's agenda, I wonder what will be the agreement on governance issues with potential partners

December 04, 2008 14:32 PM BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on Thursday clarified that it is pursuing strategic partnerships with a number of airlines, but stopped short of saying it was merging with any of them.

Australian newspapers have been playing up reports of Qantas in merger talks with British Airways, which included additional news that the Australian airline had merger talks with MAS earlier this year.

Responding to the reports, MAS managing director/chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Idris Jala said: "We are in talks with a number of airlines on collaborating and creating synergies for growth, ranging from joint ventures and code shares to interlining partnerships."

For example, he said, the national carrier has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qantas on joint venture on maintainance repair and overhaul.

"In our Business Transformation Plan, we have said we will pursue strategic partnerships to create additional value for MAS.

"This is in line with our vision to transform into The World's Five-Star Value Carrier," he said.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, MAS and Qantas earlier this year started talks but were suspended because they could not agree on the merger ratio and governance issues.

Qantas was now in merger talks with British Airways and is said to have committed itself to forging a tie-up with a foreign carrier even if the planned merger falters.